


i'm surprised when you kiss me

by lesbinej



Series: tumblr kiss prompts [1]
Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, in which nico was on the roof w karolina when she fell, so this is like. an au of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 10:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16172885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbinej/pseuds/lesbinej
Summary: arielabarers said: 2323. …in relief.(title from king princess' 1950)





	i'm surprised when you kiss me

Karolina doesn’t know what hits her first—the fact that she could’ve died, the fact that she  _ didn’t  _ die, or Nico screaming her name with jarring clarity, compared to the numbness that permeates every other sense of her being. 

She’s floating—she’s  _ floating— _ hundreds of feet off the ground, bottle of vodka she’d reached for still falling, still falling, and Karolina swears she can hear it break on the ground below. 

_ That could’ve been her  _ **_body_ ** _. _

Karolina takes in a shuddering breath, trying to slow her racing heart. She was falling, but then she wasn’t. And now she’s just… hovering. She goes to try and spin, or right herself, and it’s surprisingly easy—like swimming in water, except there’s much less resistance. 

_ “Karolina,  _ oh my God _ ,  _ **_Karolina!_ ** _ ”  _ Nico screams again, and Karolina suddenly remembers that Nico had grabbed her wrist as she’d fallen, snapping off her Gibborim bracelet. She inhales deeply and wiggles herself upward, finding the idea of moving in the air easier and easier the more she tries. And then, all of a sudden, she’s back on the rooftop, floating a little above it, and Nico’s watching her with fearful, but awestruck eyes.

Those eyes—the brown that looks like volcanic ash in the night sky, but underneath the swirling pinks and blue and yellows of Karolina’s glowing lights, they look almost golden. Karolina’s never seen a more beautiful sight.

She drifts down to the gravel roof, gently. Nico seizes her  as soon as her toes touch the rocks, and she’s holding Karolina’s face with both hands. Karolina doesn’t know what she expects, but Nico’s eyes are shining with tears, and she brings Karolina into a tight hug, squeezing her shoulders with more force than Karolina knew she had in her.

“You… can fly,” she says, shakily. It’s not phrased like a question, just a simple statement. Karolina can’t believe it, either—she should’ve  _ died.  _ Yet here she is, stupidly clutching Nico’s hair in her arms, and suddenly the only thought in her head is how Nico smells like a bonfire on the beach.

“Yeah,” Karolina gasps, bringing her hands into Nico’s hair a little more. She tells herself its to steady herself. “Apparently so.”

“You could’ve  _ died,”  _ Nico whispers, her face against Karolina’s chest, now. “You could’ve died. You could’ve died.”

Karolina brings her nose down to Nico’s forehead and places a kiss there.  _ It’s to comfort her _ , she lies. Honestly, her hands are shaking so badly, Karolina’s not sure she could unclench them from Nico’s hair, anyways. “I didn’t.”

“Did you know you could fly?” Nico’s trembling, a little, and Karolina feels hot tears start dripping on her shoulder.  _ Shit.  _

“No, but now I do,” Karolina laughs, humorless. 

“You scared the shit out of me,” Nico says, laughing a little, too. Karolina wonders if that’s how they cope, now—finding the humor where there isn’t any.

“I’m sorry,” Karolina starts to whisper, but she’s utterly taken aback by Nico’s springing up onto her tiptoes and kissing her.

_ Nico’s  _ kissing her.

Karolina’s convinced this has to be a dream, now—first she glowed, then she fell off a roof, then she  _ flew,  _ and now her lifelong crush and girl of her dreams,  _ Nico Minoru,  _ is kissing her. The thought sends a flutter through her heart, and she decides that if this is a dream, she doesn’t want to wake up.

Nico pulls away, and Karolina only then realizes that she hadn’t reciprocated the kiss. At all. Nico starts to look at her, brow furrowed in concern, but Karolina doesn’t care—she chases Nico’s lips again, and they kiss again, and it’s warm and colorful and perfect. Everything about it is perfect, and Karolina sinks into it. How natural it feels to kiss her. How  _ right. _

“Your lights,” Nico gasps, breaking away. “Someone’s gonna see.”

Karolina realizes, then, that she’d been glowing so fiercely she’s sure people on the moon would see her. 

“Let them,” she whispers, leaning in again, but Nico pulls away for real, and Karolina sighs. She already misses those warm, soft lips. 

“We’re not letting Area 51 snatch you,” Nico says, rolling her eyes, but her lipstick is smudged a little, and Karolina instinctively reaches up and wipes on it with her thumb. Nico clasps the bracelet back on her wrist, and Karolina feels her lights ebb out, but Nico’s still watching her with that unreadable expression in her eyes, and Karolina can’t help but shiver. 

Nico clears her throat, and suddenly, the moment is over. She steps away, and gestures for them to return to the party downstairs. Karolina doesn’t  _ really  _ want to go, but it’s clear Nico feels the need to re-immerse herself in the party. She doesn’t know if it’s because she regrets kissing Karolina, or if it’s something else, but Karolina knows—she  _ knows  _ she wants to kiss Nico again.

She decides she’ll think about Alex later. 

  



End file.
